The present invention relates to enzymatically-treated starches which are useful as viscosifiers and to a process for their preparation. Such starch-based viscosifiers are useful in the preparation of food products, particularly fruit and vegetable based products.
Numerous starch products prepared using a variety of processes are known in the art. These include starches which are prepared by enzymatic treatment.
Enzymatic treatment of starches has also been disclosed in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,126 discloses a method of liquefying a starch slurry using .alpha.-amylase and then malt enzymes and glucoamylase to make a highly fermentable starch conversion syrup with a DE less than 35. U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,196 discloses solubilization of a granular starch to essentially dextrose using .alpha.-amylase. U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,950 discloses a method of using .alpha.-amylase to prepare slightly decomposed, low viscosity starch granules with a DE preferably between 0.1 and 1.0 to produce a material useful as a raw material in the sugar industry.
EP 182 296 discloses a granular .alpha.-amylase hydrolyzed starch for use as a dusting powder. EP 231 729 discloses a gelatinized starch hydrolyzate useful as a sweetener in foods which is prepared using .alpha.- and .beta.-amylase in a two-step process. EP 704 169 discloses partially gelatinized starch which is hydrolyzed to a DE of preferably between 4 and 10 for use as a fat or oil substitute.
The use of glucose syrups in a variety of foods, including ketchup, jams, marmalades and fruit preparations, has been reported in Food Review, 19(6): 33 (1993). Glucose syrups are purified, concentrated aqueous solutions of nutritive saccharides of DE 20 or more obtained by hydrolysis of edible starch. See Whistler, et al., Starch Chemistry and Technology, 2.sup.nd Ed., Academic Press, Inc. Orlando, pp. 612 (1984). Further, glucose syrups known in the art do not add viscosity to food products. They are primarily added to provide or balance sweetness, as a bulking agent or filler, and to enhance Maillard browning.
Surprisingly, it has now been discovered that enzyme hydrolysis of a non-gelatinized, granular starch or flour produces unique starches useful as viscosifiers in food products, particularly fruit- or vegetable-based products.